Haven't really posted a "real" post in a while, and recently it's the first time I've been skipping months since 2023 (when I wasn't in the area at the time). I guess I just lost interest. You can only do so much if you're not making any money off of something. But I haven't abandoned this blog, just switched focus to places like Houston (and those entries don't typically have photos). I had also wanted to continue the "post on days I didn't already have posts on" project but another opportunity won't come until August 5th.
When working on an updated version of my FM 60 page for Carbon-izer (Version 5.2 here until August 1st, Version 6.0 here after August 1st) I came across 520 University Drive East and decided that there was enough information on it and that it was an interesting enough subject to do a full post on it.
The current tenant at 502 University Drive East, Sabi Boutique, opened in spring 2019 shortly after opening a second location at Century Square (this one replaced the Holleman Drive East location).
Originally, this was an office building that was first the home of a podiatrist (feet) by Dr. J.P. Beal, DPM, and soon became the home of the local Protective Life Insurance Company. (A 1974 directory lists the aformentioned Dr. Jacob B. Beal Jr. and Protective Life Insurance Company, as well as Farmers Insurance Company and Charles E. Thomas & Associates, which was the official name of the Protective agency). In 1982, Shellenberger's moved in as a second location from Townshire Center. In 1993 (by this time the Townshire location was gone) it was renamed as "The Suit Club at Shellenberger's" (advertising only—it only had "The Suit Club" on the sign outside) until closure in 2008. This 2008 article sheds a bit more light on the subject, The Suit Club wasn't exclusive to the area, it was a co-op with other independent menswear stores, though by 2008 this one was the only one left.
By January 2009, there were "two stores under one roof", Lew's Mens Wear, a store that replaced The Suit Club after it liquidated (there was a gap of about a month) and Sprout, a clothing store that was a spin-off of Old Bryan Marketplace.
Next from what I can tell, Harley's of Tyler purchased Lew's and converted it to their name in 2012, booting out Sprout in the process. This closed in December 2018.
I do have one more announcement to make: I will be permanently removing the post on T.G.I. Friday's (seen here, originally posted February 8, 2025). Like many of the posts from a decade ago, it doesn't really meet the same quality standards and without even a good picture, can't really be grandfathered in. (The only way it could remotely work is if I went by and grabbed a picture as the existing Willie's, which is kind of missing the point, or sullying the quality of my site with a Google Street View image...and I'm already annoyed with how poor quality the Rockfish Seafood Grill article is. In any case, effectively we're trading Sabi Boutique with Carbon-izer in exchange for T.G.I. Friday's. It was not a decision I took lightly, I don't really remove posts anymore.
